Droid Life » Playhttp://www.droid-life.com
An intense Android news community bringing you the latest in phones, rooting, apps, and reviews.Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:30:45 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Google Patents a Way to Keep Pirated Content off of Google Playhttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/04/04/google-patents-way-to-keep-pirated-content-off-of-play/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/04/04/google-patents-way-to-keep-pirated-content-off-of-play/#commentsSat, 05 Apr 2014 01:04:40 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=136716Google Patents a Way to Keep Pirated Content off of Google Play is a post from: Droid Life
]]>Any user of Google Play knows that when you search for the most popular apps, there’s always a clone or two at hand. While Google does make an effort to remove these kinds of apps, it’s inevitable that they won’t be able to stop every last one. That’s where this recently awarded patent comes in — Google has devised a method to compare code to other apps to check for copying, and will cleverly filter out open-source code matches.

Applied for in July 2013, the intricacies of the patent get quite complex, considering that Google is not dealing with a simple issue here. Apps will be given a “similarity rating” based on how much they compare to the code of other apps, and presumably if it’s too close the app will be removed from Play.

Google, as mentioned earlier, has also thought up a way to deal with open-source and freely available code, so apps are not removed from Play just because they used something they had a right to.

While Google has not made anything official on this system becoming a part of Google Play, it would only make logical sense for them to finally be able to counter piracy. Good on you, Google.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/04/04/google-patents-way-to-keep-pirated-content-off-of-play/feed/54Google Music and Books Receive Updates, Google Play Branding Includedhttp://www.droid-life.com/2012/03/06/google-music-and-books-receive-updates-google-play-branding-included/
http://www.droid-life.com/2012/03/06/google-music-and-books-receive-updates-google-play-branding-included/#commentsTue, 06 Mar 2012 18:58:08 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=63677Google Music and Books Receive Updates, Google Play Branding Included is a post from: Droid Life
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We love coordination like this. Moments after Google’s new “Play” media market went live (a rebranding of the Android Market), we are already seeing the first updates to their suite of apps with Google Play branding on them. If you jump into the market, you should see Google Books and Google Music updates, changing the names to Play Books and Play Music respectively. That is really all that is changing though is the branding, however, the Books update does mention that it is “now integrated with Google Play.”

Time to welcome in a new member to the already impressive Android collection on Verizon, the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY aka the Playstation Phone. Murmurs of the device possibly hitting Big Red started last week and today, it became official in an announcement at MWC in Barcelona. The PLAY will come to VZW first out of all the U.S. carriers and should be here some time in the spring, which means it’ll be battling it out with new versions of our beloved DROID franchise like the DROID X2.

Loading up with Gingerbread (Android 2.3), a slideout gaming keyboard, 4″ screen, 5MP camera, 1GHz processor, and a GPU capable of producing 60 FPS, this could be one heck of a fun toy. What do you guys think? Who’s ready for some serious gaming?

• Xperia(TM) PLAY is the world’s first PlayStation(TM) certified smartphone
• Powered by the latest version of the Android(TM) platform (Gingerbread version 2.3)
• Xperia(TM) PLAY will be available in the United States in the Spring 2011
• More than 50 top game titles available at launch

ATLANTA, GA — Are Americans ready to play? Sony Ericsson and Verizon Wireless think so. Sony Ericsson today announced that its new Xperia™ PLAY, the world’s first PlayStation™ certified smartphone, will be available on the Verizon Wireless Network in the Spring 2011.

“This spring, expect to see a lot of people with their heads down and thumbs up,” said Peter Farmer, Head of Marketing for North America, Sony Ericsson. “Xperia™ PLAY combined with the power of the Verizon network gives you everything you need in a smartphone and the one thing you want – the ultimate gaming experience.”

Xperia™ PLAY is powered by the latest version of the Android platform (Gingerbread version 2.3) – and is PlayStation-certified, which ensures an optimized gaming experience featuring content from the PlayStation Suite. Xperia™ PLAY will provide a best-in-class gaming experience right out of the box with many of the most popular games pre-loaded, including Asphalt Adrenaline 6, Bruce Lee, Star Battalion, The Sims 3, and Tetris. More than 50 additional titles from top franchises at leading game publishers will be available for purchase at launch.

“Working with Sony Ericsson to bring the world’s first PlayStation-certified smartphone to the nation’s most reliable network builds on our commitment to deliver the best mobile gaming and entertainment experience to our customers,” said Jeff Dietel, vice president-marketing for Verizon Wireless.

According to the Entertainment Software Association’s 2010 consumer survey, in the United States:

67 percent of households play computer or video games

42 percent of heads of households report they play games on wireless devices, up from 20 percent in 2002

The average game player age is 34 and 40 percent of game players are women

Facebook users can enter the First2Play contest and could be one of the first 10 people to get the Xperia™ PLAY by visitingwww.facebook.com/SEUSA.

The Liquid Identity logo and Xperia are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB. Sony is a trademark or registered trademark of Sony Corporation. Ericsson is the trademark or registered trademark of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson. Additional information regarding trademarks may be located on our website at:www.sonyericsson.com/cws/common/legal/disclaimer.

Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. All terms are subject to change without prior notice.
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, SE-221 88 Lund, Sweden.
Printed in January 2011, R1A

About Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson is a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson established in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London and operations in all major markets. Our vision is to become the industry leader in Communication Entertainment; where new styles of communicating through the internet and social media, become entertainment. Sony Ericsson offers exciting consumer experiences through phones, accessories, content and applications.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s fastest and most advanced 4G network and largest and most reliable 3G network, and serves more than 94 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 82,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visitwww.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library atwww.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Official Specs:

Sony Ericsson Xperia™ PLAY

Camera

5.1 megapixel camera

Auto focus

Flash / Photo light

Geo tagging

Image stabiliser

Send to web

Touch focus

Video light

Video recording

Video blogging

Music

Album art

Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)

Google™ Music Player

Music tones (MP3/AAC)

PlayNow™ service*

Sony Ericsson Music player

Stereo speakers

TrackID™ music recognition application

Internet

Android Market™*

Bookmarks

Google™ search*

Google™ Voice Search*

Pan & zoom

Web browser (Webkit)

Communication

Call list

Conference calls

Facebook™ application (from Android Market™)

Google™ Talk*

Noise Shield

Polyphonic ringtones

Speakerphone

Sony Ericsson Timescape™***

Twitter™ application (from Android Market™)

Vibrating alert

Messaging

Android Cloud to Device messaging (C2DM)

Conversations

Email

Google Mail™*

Instant messaging

Picture messaging (MMS)

Predictive text input

Sound recorder

Text messaging (SMS)

Design

Auto rotate

Keyboard (onscreen, 12 key)

Keyboard (onscreen, QWERTY)

Picture wallpaper

Touchscreen

Wallpaper animation

Entertainment

3D games

Dedicated gaming keys

Flash Lite™

Gesture gaming

Motion gaming

Video streaming

YouTube™

Organiser

Alarm clock

Calculator

Calendar

Document editors

Document readers

E-Manual

Flight mode

Google Calendar™

Google Gallery 3D™

Infinite button

Phone book

Set-up Wizard

Widget manager

Connectivity

3.5 mm audio jack

aGPS

Bluetooth™ technology

DLNA Certified

Google Latitude™

Google Location Service

Google Maps™ with Street View

Media Transfer Protocol support

Micro USB Connector

Modem

Synchronisation via Facebook™**

Synchronisation via Google Sync™

Synchronisation via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®

Synchronisation via Sony Ericsson Sync

USB 2.0 high speed support

Wi-Fi™

Wi-Fi™ Hotspot functionality

* The service is not available in all markets.
** Requires Facebook™ application installed on the device.

Google™ services*

* These services may not be available in every market Android Market™ Client

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2011/02/13/official-sony-xperia-play-headed-to-verizon-spring-2011/feed/161Is the Sony Xperia PLAY Headed to Verizon? (Updated)http://www.droid-life.com/2011/02/09/is-the-sony-xperia-play-headed-to-verizon/
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/02/09/is-the-sony-xperia-play-headed-to-verizon/#commentsWed, 09 Feb 2011 15:56:05 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=25881Is the Sony Xperia PLAY Headed to Verizon? (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life
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According to a chart that went live at Wirefly’s site on February 3rd, the Sony Xperia PLAY is headed to Verizon. Yep, this would be the Playstation phone that we’ve been covering over at Android Life, but was kept far from the pages of DL since we assumed it wouldn’t come anywhere near Big Red. The PLAY hasn’t been announced on a carrier yet, but could be on Sunday in a press event that kicks off just before MWC. I guess we’ll know at that time if that chart needs to see some quick editing. And I have to admit that seeing this phone on Verizon would shock the heck out of me.

Update: As expected, Wirefly has now changed the carrier to “To be determined.”

Need a few specs? How does a 4″ LCD screen, Gingerbread, 5MP camera and the ultimate gaming slide-out keyboard sound? Anyone interested?

The PLAY’s Super Bowl ad featuring Andy and his creepy thumbs after the break.